Endocrine Abstracts

Familial isolated pituitary adenoma (FIPA) occurs if two or more members of a family develop pituitary adenoma with no features of multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 or Carney complex. FIPA is an autosomal dominant disease with incomplete penetrance. FIPA families can be divided into two distinct groups based on genetic and phenotypic features. In 20% of FIPA families mutations have been identified in the aryl hydrocarbon receptor interacting protein (AIP) gene. The AIP-posit...

Somatostatin and its analogues negatively regulate the growth of multiple epithelial cell types. This anti-proliferative effect occurs through multiple mechanisms, one of which is cell cycle arrest at the G0/G1 phase. p27, a cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, has a negative influence on cell cycle progression, and there are recent data suggesting that somatostatin increases p27 levels. We have previously shown that pituitary adenoma cells contain less p27 protein than normal p...

Objective: GH replacement therapy currently requires daily injections, which may cause poor compliance and distress for patients. CTP-modified hGH (MOD-4023) is being developed for once-weekly administration in GH Deficient adults and children. The present study evaluated the safety, pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD) of MOD-4023 in GHD adults.Design and methods: 39 normalized GHDA patients currently treated with daily GH were randomized and...

Background: The most reliable biochemical markers in the follow-up of medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) are serum calcitonin (CAL) and carcinoembrional antigen (CEA).Case: A 82 years male presented with rapidly growing neck tumour in April 2008. The patient underwent total thyroidectomy with lymph node dissection (June 2008). The pathology revealed MTC localized only in the left lobe (pT3NoMx), the immunohistology showed CAL-, synaptophysin, chromogranin...

Background: Extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) cascades are key signaling pathways involved in regulation of normal cell proliferation, survival and differentiation. Abberrant regulation of the ERK pathway contributes to tumourigenesis. The ERK signalling cascade partially controls transcription of the cell cycle regulator cyclin D1 and also expression and protein stability of the c-Myc proto-oncogene.Methods: Western Blotting was used to invest...

Sheehan's syndrome occurs as a result of ischemic pituitary necrosis due to severe postpartum haemorrhage. It is characterized by varying degrees of anterior pituitary dysfunction and GH is one of the earliest hormones lost. We have compared patients with Sheehan's syndrome (n=189) and with non-functioning pituitary adenoma (NFPA; n=117) to determine whether adult GH deficient patients with Sheehan's syndrome have different baseline characteristics and whether they respond in ...

This analysis is based on 4457 patients (2365 males, 2092 females; mean age 44 years, range 18-83) with severe GH deficiency (GHD) enrolled in KIMS (pharmaco-epidemiological survey of GH replacement in adult GH-deficient patients, sponsored by Pharmacia Corporation). The mean duration of adult GH replacement was 2.8 years (range 0.1-11.0) giving 10,779 patient years of follow up. The baseline prevalence of diabetes mellitus prior to GH replacement was 3.7 % (compared with popu...